Hey b, no separate topic on the eavesdropped Luftwaffe oficers discussing the deplyment of Taurus cruise missiles? I’m kind of surprised since it’s a big scandal in many ways.
At the surface, there is the blanket suppresion of reporting, not only in the compliant cartel media, but also including actual censorship of X accounts that republished the audio. The former is not surprising at all, but the latter looks like a clear escalation of efforts into the – cough cough – defense of democracy.
A lot of reporting in alternative channels suggests that the German army planning and wargaming the use against Russian targets of German weaponry supported by, or even actually by, German military personel while Germany is not formally at war with Russia is somehow problematic. While the incident is obviously diplomatically a cause of embarrassment, it is realisticaly the task of any military to investigate and evaluate all scenarios (though I wonder if they ever wargame scenarios involving kicking the USA occupier out of German territory.)
The real scandal that I have seen hardly mentioned anywhere, except as hinted at by Russia’s foreign minister Lavrov, is that the German military plans for deployment of Taurus cruise missiles expressly mentioned secrecy and official deniability. In other words, outside of the prying eyes of the German Bundestag and the German public. Now that would clearly be an unconstitutional act and may even be considered an act of treason.
It does not seem reasonable that wargaming acts of treason is part of the German army’s mission. If the German body politic fails to investigate the hierarchical scope of this deep-reaching transgression or fails to respond appropriately and proportionally to it, the German people have all reason (as if they hadn’t enough already) to revolt against a political class complicit in various acts of treason.
Obviously, the blatantly incompetent military officers who let themselves be eavesdropped should be court-martialled and sacked, and probably jailed. Such a stunning show of incompetence.

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 3 2024 15:37 utc | 4

Ed4@1….no offense, but so many people focus on the death count, on both sides, I find it a little ghoulish. And I’m not sure of the need to know, is it like a drive by gawk, or maybe a ‘liar liar pants on fire’ if the numbers are wrong, fudged, like specific post WW2 death counts for a specific group of people. Russia lost millions during the last take over attempt, what’s a few hundred thousands deaths to protect your assets this time around….that is what the Western Oligarchs want. It’s always about the Mammon and who was given the right by God to control that.
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 3 2024 15:42 utc | 6

target the Mir credit card system … targeting investment funds and regional banks to target “Russia’s core financial infrastructure

“all wars are bankster wars.”

Posted by: Justpassinby | Mar 3 2024 15:49 utc | 8

An update on the Taurus leak. The following argument currently makes the most sense. Russia – like other countries – will have a great many recordings of Germany and others. Anything else would be strange in view of professional intelligence services. This only raises the question: why was this conversation published now of all times?
Firstly, because there were probably criminally few security precautions. This means that Russia can “safely” publicize the leak without revealing its more advanced eavesdropping methods and sources. After all, using Webex in a hotel is so negligent that it would probably not happen again in the Bundeswehr.
But the second point is the really important one. This ultimately sent a “message” to NATO. So far, NATO has always crossed “red lines”, but Russia has always “turned a blind eye” and never held a NATO country directly responsible. In this case, Russia would have to assume a de facto act of war if countries such as the UK were actively involved in the sinking of Russian warships. This is apparently now a thing of the past. For Germany at least, this was something of a “yellow card”: If the Crimean bridge were now actually destroyed with Taurus missiles, Russia would automatically be at war with Germany. And Germany would not be able to invoke NATO Article 5, as this only applies if the NATO country in question is attacked and does not attack itself.
But the warning is probably not even primarily directed at Germany. It can be assumed that Russia also has recordings of the much more active British or Polish countries. For them, the publication may have been something of a final “shot across the bow”.

Posted by: xblob | Mar 3 2024 15:56 utc | 10

As I mentioned before. Russia leaked the call because they view the massive attack on Crimea and the bridge as imminent.
The decision has already been taken at the highest level (Genocide Joe, Nuland, Brits, French and Germans)
There is no going back to these lunatics. Crimea will be a crater and the bridge will be at the bottom of the black sea.
The question now is what is Russia going to do?

Posted by: Comandante | Mar 3 2024 16:04 utc | 12

2Plus 4 contract from 1990
.
In Russia they are preparing to terminate the treaty with the Federal Republic of Germany, which has been the basis for peace in the region for the last 35 years.
The reason: Contrary to the provisions of the treaty, German weapons are being used against Russia (as the legal successor to the USSR).
The document on the “Final regulation of relations with Germany” was signed in Moscow on September 12, 1990. It came into force in March 1991. It is also known as the “2 Plus 4 Treaty” – GDR and FRG plus USSR, France, Great Britain and USA.
Key position from Article 2:
Regarding the reunification of Germany, it was declared “that the united Germany will never use any of its weapons” and “that only peace will emanate from German soil.”
Key position from Article 3:
This article stipulates the “renunciation of the production and possession of and control over nuclear, biological and chemical weapons”.
Key position from Article 5:
It was stipulated: “After the withdrawal of the Soviet armed forces from the area of today’s German Democratic Republic and Berlin has been completed, German armed forces units can also be stationed in this part of Germany…”, i.e. no foreign contingents and NATO troops can be stationed.
As a result, the treaty was valued more highly than a peace treaty.
The legal scholar Klaus Stern writes:
“An additional peace treaty is therefore neither planned nor does it make sense. Everything that a peace treaty should contain is therefore regulated. The two-plus-four treaty, by virtue of its content aimed at more than just peace, replaces any peace treaty with the war opponents.”
📌Editor’s note
The actions of the federal government are in total violation of this treaty. The question arises, what does it mean if Russia annuls this treaty?
This means that Germany de jure falls back under martial law after 1945. And there is no longer a peace treaty with Russia.
The consequences for Germany are unforeseeable. The federal government has done it! We are once again on the threshold of the annihilation of Germany – it didn’t even take a NSDAP or a Hitler.
The traffic light, Pistorius, Baerbock, Scholz and other “funny characters” who are no longer funny, managed to do it faster than the Third Reich.
Source – 2+4 contract / German
https://www.1000documente.de/index.html?c=document_de&document=0046_zwe&object=translation&st=ZWEI%20PLUS%20VIER&l=de

Posted by: Ossi | Mar 3 2024 16:07 utc | 14

Some interesting posts on current Ukrainian naval drones:
https://t.me/UAVDEV/5814

The age of big ships has not gone away, that’s true, comrade. Fisherman.
You can point to simulacra like the “mosquito fleet” as much as you like, but their main merit lies in our outright failures.
Either the landing craft in the middle of the night, God knows, or the banal booms were installed for months.
A timely response to threats is necessary: increase the number of machine guns on board to combat the MBEC, put on board the required number of thermal imagers (not hunting), UAV operators and even FPV drones, to the horror of the valiant naval command. Everything is not certified and not accepted for service, and a non-standard machine gun on self-tapping screws/bolts can generally shock respected people.
It is unreasonable to talk about the “passing of an era” of large ships, because a ship is just a platform. Like old T-72s with thermal imagers and Tu-95MS with new equipment, the ships are capable and will carry out their assigned tasks if they are promptly prepared for modern challenges, and not write tons of crap on paper. Which no one reads yet.

https://t.me/UAVDEV/5790

1/2
Today we are reviewing the crown of Ukrainian shipbuilding, the unmanned boat Magura, named after the former bus driver, and now the President of Venezuela, Maduro.
Magura is a very thin and flimsy mold of a boat, reinforced with boards from a nearby construction site and parts from a grandmother’s closet. The body is so fragile that it can be penetrated by firewood. Therefore, dead magura on the shore is not uncommon.
The hatches are made from barrel lids. The engine compartment (MTO) is aluminum, integrated into the boat using construction nanofoam.
The production is quite obscene, even for a disposable product.
Between the MTO and the outer top cover there is a space that is blown through by two bags. There are boxes with equipment there. This solution simultaneously cleans the engine from fuel vapors and reduces the thermal heating of the boat cover = thermal visibility.
Inside the engine compartment there is an almost unchanged Chinese jet ski. It is so unchanged that its instrument panel is fixed with glue inside the boat’s hull and is viewed by a webcam (in the photo the instrument panel has already fallen off).
The system for adjusting this telemetry by bending the plate through a specially trained slot is especially delightful.
Magura communicates with the outside world using two Starlink antennas, as well as a satellite communication antenna from Kymeta. This set of communications tells us that not everything is going smoothly with Starlinks. Either they are banned, or they themselves die in the sea, but inside there are actually two full-fledged parallel communication channels implemented, + kUmeta.
Another communication channel is the industrial dual-SIM cellular router RUT956. In the coastal zone (up to 40 km from the tower), it can cling to terrestrial mobile Internet.
We assumed earlier that one of the modes of operation of sea drones is to approach the shore directly using GPS, pick up the mobile network there and then aim at the target in hand. The router has GPS, but its antenna input is not connected, but both mobile antenna inputs for both SIM cards are connected and there is a connection trace on the LAN2 connector. This means the router is still in use.

https://t.me/UAVDEV/5798

2/2
There is trash and waste in the on-board electronics. A surprising combination of assorted Chinese boards from alishkas, boxes, from plastic serial ones to home-made aluminum ones with rivets and sealant, with neat assembly on spacers and with tips (!!) on plates specially cut for blocks. Even for the goat video capture card EasyCap, costing 300 rubles (by the way, it is responsible for digitizing AI telemetry) there is a special plate with holes for ties.
The basis of the boat’s intelligence is a lot of raspberry pi pico breakout boards, shoved in all directions. The creators of this miracle clearly did not know how to use embedding, so they programmed each relay activation separately under Linux. There, literally every function is included on a separate RPi board! Even inside one box! 😭
The boards have an isolated CAN on the ADM3053, but none are connected to the jet ski ECU, and the telemetry is read by a camera.
Autonomous orientation is performed on orangecube and pix. Most likely, only heading data is used to make it easier for the pilot to steer by hand. In marine conditions, the cube will not provide any long-term orientation.
Streams of data from the Starlink Zoo flow into Mikrotik rb962. Most likely, control on Starlink is organized through tunnels, which is why the microt is located there.
The pile of RPi wasn’t enough for them, so they also added some kind of PC to the center. Alas, they didn’t let me unscrew the cooler, so you can write in the comments what kind of computer it is.
Thermal imaging camera from Flir, visible spectrum – another webcam, similar to looking at the tidy of a jet ski.
The cost of such a magura is 250 kilobucks, just for a moment.
Actually, always remember that no matter how much pomp the Ukrainians present their product, inside there will be snot, drool, grandma’s closet and Mikrotik on tape.
Here the critic will exclaim: but it works! Why don’t we?
Sometimes it works, efficiency is ~1:10. And we also have a fleet. What do crests have to drown with them?
And geraniums also work well for ports.
But if suddenly people from the fleet are reading me, show the dragadmiral the anti-torpedo nets and grooves. Well, to be honest, it’s not funny anymore…

Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 3 2024 16:17 utc | 16

Posted by: xblob | Mar 3 2024 15:56 utc | 10
British tankers might be the best way to respond Britain sinking Russian ships. Say, 4 tankers for Moskva, 1 tanker for Ropuchka, and 2 tankers for the missile frigate. Call it even again (for now).

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2024 16:19 utc | 18

The conversation of German generals that was intercepted and also confirmed.
Whether Chancellor Scholz had it posted on social networks himself, i.e. it was NOT intercepted by Russians but German services, remains an open question?
It benefits the German Chancellor, who was under strong pressure within his own ranks, to release Tarus.
NOW things might be a little different!
Abstract :
The fact that Russia is not spreading disinformation, but that this conversation actually took place and was intercepted, was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense after some time. The inspector of the German Air Force Ingo Gerhartz, the head of the operations and training department Frank Gräfe in the Air Force Command in Berlin and employees of the Space Command named Fenske and Frohstedte were involved in the conversation.
How can Taurus missiles be delivered to Ukraine without becoming a party to the war?
According to the transcript published by Simonjan, Gerhartz said that no one knows why Chancellor Scholz is not delivering the Taurus to Ukraine. A lot of nonsense is being spread. Gerhartz wanted to know what consequences the political decision to deliver Taurus rockets could have, what problems existed and how they could be solved.
According to Gräfe, the Taurus rockets would only be ready for use after 8 months so that there would be no incorrect use. It would take 6 months just to attach the necessary attachments to a fighter aircraft, which the Ukrainians would have to do anyway. Training Ukrainians for maintenance and deployment would take 3-4 months. You could ask the British to help with this and provide them with databases, satellite images and planning stations.
Gerhartz interjected that training could be quicker, as we could see at Patriot. Fenske confirmed this, saying he expects it to be less than 12 weeks. The operation could then also be supported technically via a secure connection from Blüchel. However, the Bundeswehr appears to be having difficulties with a secure connection, as the intercepted conversation shows.
Gerhartz argued that such a direct connection between Büchel and Ukraine could cause politicians to worry about involvement in the war. But you could use the “trick” to process the information about the MBDA arms company in Schrobenhausen. You could send one or two specialists to him. The manufacturer of the Taurus rockets is Taurus Systems GmbH in Schrobenhausen, a joint venture between MBDA and Saab Dynamics.
Gräfe spoke out strictly against using such tricks. One had to ensure from the start that Germany did not become a warring party. You just have to imagine what happens when the press finds out that “our people” are in Schrobenhausen or that we are driving cars in Poland. That is unacceptable.
Fenske explained that the target information, which also includes satellite images, could also be transmitted to Poland or brought by car. Six hours after receiving the information, at best an aircraft could carry out the order. We need to think further about the organization of information transfer. The Ukrainians are already receiving satellite images from the Bundeswehr. Fenske announced that he would travel to Ukraine on February 21st, apparently to prepare for training.
Gerhartz said the Taurus would not change the course of the war. You can initially deliver 50 rockets. But this is a political matter, the British and French are now pushing Germany because they have already delivered Scalp and Storm Shadow missiles. But the Germans should “not add fuel to the fire like others are doing with Storm Shadow and Scalp.”
It is then discussed that there are two possible targets: ammunition depots and, above all, the Crimean bridge, which is difficult to hit because it is so small. You might have to use 10 or 20 rockets to destroy it. Everyone would know that the Ukrainians want to destroy the bridge. Only a short training period is required for the depots and a longer one for the bridge.
NATO personnel have long been working in Ukraine to provide military support
It emerges from the conversation that the Bundeswehr wants to support Ukraine in destroying the Crimean Bridge, even if it doesn’t want to have anything to do with it directly, as the Chancellor explained. Scholz had already indicated that France and Great Britain have personnel in Ukraine to support the deployment of Storm Shadow and Scalp.
The fact that CIA employees have been in Ukraine for a long time and that the Ukrainian troops are being supplied with satellite and target data by the Pentagon was recently highlighted without being contradicted by the New York Times, even though it avoided talking specifically about Patriot, which also means Russian aircraft were said to have been shot down in Russian territory.
Repeatedly, the British could be asked to take on certain tasks when using Taurus missiles. It can also be concluded from this that British soldiers are active in Ukraine and that Great Britain – as well as France and the USA, and probably other NATO countries – have thus become a party to the war, even if the ground troops appear in civilian clothes. After asking whether Ukraine can do everything on its own, Gerhartz said it is known that in Ukraine “there are a lot of people in civilian clothes who speak with American accents.” At least they have the satellite images that also come from Germany.
Unlike some members of the traffic light coalition, the Chancellor doesn’t want that. In fact, after the “Great Patriotic War” against the Nazis, it may be more provocative for Russians if German missiles attack Russian targets than if British or French ones do so. Medvedev also expanded on this:
“After all, our eternal enemies – the Germans – have become archenemies again. Look at how carefully and in detail the Krauts discuss attacks on our territory with long-range missiles, the selection of targets to hit and the most likely ways to inflict the greatest possible harm on our homeland and our people. Not to be forgotten is the use of false rhetoric about Germany’s non-participation in the conflict. Who could have imagined this until recently? How can you respond to this diplomatically? I don’t know it…”
It is also interesting how officers are trying to find ways and tricks for Pistorius to deliver Taurus, train Ukrainians and use the missiles without the Bundeswehr being directly involved in the operation. It is obvious that the Ukrainians will not only attack targets within Ukraine’s 1991 borders with Taurus, as this also happened with the Patriot systems.
Putin’s problem?
It is an open secret that experts and soldiers from NATO countries are working in Ukraine to provide military support to the country. It is not known whether they are involved in the warfare, but it is quite likely. The fact that Russia was able to eavesdrop on the conversation of the German officers – and this is probably not the only hack – is a big problem for the Bundeswehr, also in relation to its partners who may no longer trust it.
However, Putin has had the bigger problem for some time now, after one red line after another was crossed by the NATO states without Russia really reacting to it, apart from warnings. That’s why the West is already arguing that we can move on quietly because Russia wouldn’t dare take action against a NATO country or use nuclear weapons. This contradicts the widely propagated enemy image of imperialist Russia, which will attack other NATO countries after Ukraine’s defeat, which is why Ukraine must be supported with all means possible.
But so far Putin has accepted any military support for Ukraine. But if it now becomes more and more publicly known that NATO states, through the participation of civilian soldiers and secret service employees, are directly supporting Ukraine with target data and in general in attacks with Western rockets and cruise missiles and are thus becoming parties to the war, then Putin, who is propagating that Russia is defending itself in Ukraine, the problem of showing weakness and just being stupid if nothing is done about it.
It is obvious that Russia cannot compete against a NATO weakened by the Ukraine war and therefore avoids a direct conflict. But if the attacks on Russia continue to increase and Western weapons are openly used, Putin will lose support in Russia if there is no military response. The uprising staged by Prigozhin was the first sign of this. By publishing the intercepted conversation between the German officers, the Russian leadership may have harmed itself – if only because the Bundeswehr now has to try to close the security gap. Simonjan may have gone too far here. The question is whether the publication was coordinated with the Kremlin. She says she received the recording from “comrades in uniform.”
.
These generals also confirmed that France and England are actively programming their cruise missiles in Ukraine!

Posted by: ossi | Mar 3 2024 16:24 utc | 20

Currently, Poseidon P-8A in its usual position over the Romanian Black Sea coast and FORTE10 Global Hawk also circling about 70 Nm below Yalta, Crimea.
GPS jamming is pretty heavy over the big chunk of North-Eastern Poland and most of central Baltic Sea.
And it is hard to say what is happening, but apparently also many SU-xx planes over the Black Sea – not a rumor but a direct info from the friend in the region.
Or a Kerch bridge goes boom again, or some soon to be decommissioned ship or some port gets damaged. But it is tense, as never before, except since Mariupol, says my buddy over there.
In any case, I hope they do not touch Sochi, where the World Youth Games are attended by more than 160 nations.
That would ignite a bigger conflict very quickly, guaranteed.

Posted by: whirlX | Mar 3 2024 16:30 utc | 22

Posted by: ossi | Mar 3 2024 16:24 utc | 20
“It is obvious that Russia cannot compete against a NATO weakened by the Ukraine war and therefore avoids a direct conflict.”
Am I reading this right?
Russia, which has stomped the shit out of NATO / Ukraine is scared that NATO might jump in?

Posted by: Morongobill | Mar 3 2024 16:36 utc | 24

Posted by: whirlX | Mar 3 2024 16:30 utc | 22
I was expecting a big PR move soon after the Adveeka route.
They, at least in Europe, relayed for a very long time on Navalny death.
It took a surprisingly long time for this wannabe big hit.
By the way the su-xx, if not russian are a legitimate target, let’s how it plays out.

Posted by: Mario | Mar 3 2024 16:46 utc | 26

Over the last few days things have clearly escalated to uncharted territory.
NATO has put Russia in the tough position. Against the wall forced to declare war on NATO.
They have no choice. NATO has put them in a lock.
What will they do?

Posted by: Comandante | Mar 3 2024 17:24 utc | 28

Our source reports that all the commanders who took their soldiers out of the Avdeevka stranglehold for a couple of hours in advance, thereby saving the personnel, were decided to be removed and made scapegoats.
The culprit was not Commander-in-Chief Syrsky, who, together with his office officials, pursued situational political goals, sending soldiers into the Avdeevka meat grinder, but ordinary military officers who “sent the top” and saved their boys. Now they are being made extreme.
Syrsky will thus completely destroy the morale of the army. Zelensky fully supported Syrsky, showing that he does not support “combat soldiers and officers,” but the “staff riffraff” who are to blame for Avdeev’s failure.

https://t.me/legitimniy/17370

Posted by: Down South | Mar 3 2024 17:27 utc | 30

“…Put down the Q-anon crack pipe.”
Posted by: Anonymous | Mar 3 2024 16:33 utc | 23
Amen.

Posted by: bevin | Mar 3 2024 17:31 utc | 32

Morongobill@24….the issue with, for lack of a better word, ‘crazy people’, is they don’t know they are crazy, and with how the western leaders speak out of both sides of their mouths with forked tongues, they are stark raving mad. Insane lunatics.
They have fought themselves into a corner and they are winning, or are to afraid to admit defeat. Any sane person would admit defeat.
Regardless of how many ‘armies’ Russia has defeated, Ukie NATO French German, the crazy people still have the atomic ace, right now the are doing test runs.
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 3 2024 17:34 utc | 34

according to telegram channel, https://t.me/s/ZandVchannel Canada is now willing to send “non combat troops” to Ukraine for training purposes.. Seems like more and more “trial balloons” are being sent up. IMHO, it’s because of the dire straits the AFU finds itself in. I believe, sadly, that NATo forces will be sent into Ukraine as “peace keepers”, non combat role. Possibly some of the NATO troops involved in those exercises will sent in. There was speculation that they would guard the border of Ukraine and Belarus, freeing up 100,00 + Ukies to be sent to the front lines. I really hope this doesn’t happen, but if it does, Russia needs to hammer any foreign troops hard no matter where they are or what they are doing..

Posted by: ctiger | Mar 3 2024 17:39 utc | 36

” Hey b, no separate topic on the eavesdropped Luftwaffe oficers discussing the deplyment of Taurus cruise missiles? I’m kind of surprised since it’s a big scandal in many ways.
Posted by: Lurk | Mar 3 2024 15:37 utc | 4 ”
B is in Germany, I think hes being very careful right now on.

Posted by: Moonie | Mar 3 2024 17:52 utc | 38

Against the background of a published conversation between German generals about the attacks on the Crimean Bridge the NATO Air Force entered the territory of Ukraine to practice strikes on Crimea
Two F 16s and one F 35. The planes simulated missile strikes from the territory of the Mykolaiv region in the Crimea and the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. Among other things, Patriot air defense systems and 3 mobile radars in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions actively accompanied these three aircraft.
In addition to practicing strikes on the Crimea, the F 35 aircraft actively tried to track the location of Russian radars and radar on the front line.
The entire operation lasted about 32 minutes, after which all the planes left Ukrainian airspace.
We have already written that American fighters will be based in Romania. The peculiarity of the F-16 is their “capriciousness” The runway needs to be perfectly smooth. There are no such in Ukraine.

https://t.me/ZandVchannel/102796

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2024 17:59 utc | 40

Posted by: Tortuosit | Mar 3 2024 16:03 utc | 11
Peter komma der – Frühlingslied

Posted by: slothrop_tyrone | Mar 3 2024 18:03 utc | 42

” Russia would automatically be at war with Germany. And Germany would not be able to invoke NATO Article 5, as this only applies if the NATO country in question is attacked and does not attack itself.
Posted by: canuck | Mar 3 2024 16:13 utc | 15 ”
How would Russia attack Germany without going over some other NATO country’s territory ? If they did that it would be considered an ” attack” on said nation, meaning article 5 would be implemented.
You’re underestimating the enemy’s plans, a fatal mistake most times.

Posted by: Moonie | Mar 3 2024 18:20 utc | 44

What will they do?
Posted by: Comandante | Mar 3 2024 17:24 utc | 28
—
Russia has very clearly enunciated that they will strike locations where threats originate.
Isn’t Moldova a lucky ducky!

Posted by: too scents | Mar 3 2024 18:22 utc | 46

Has Scholzy grown a spine?
Very curious.

Posted by: canuck | Mar 3 2024 18:24 utc | 48

NATO has obviously gamed every scenario and the best one is giving Russia a bloody nose in Crimea. That will stop it in its tracks and they will have to decide on the response.
Obviously Russia has gamed every response and most likely already knows the proper response.
But what is it? I have no idea
All we know is things have escalated to scary levels.

Posted by: Comandante | Mar 3 2024 18:30 utc | 50

Posted by: Comandante | Mar 3 2024 18:21 utc | 45
That’s a big if.
As I’ve stated it depends on the treat.
100 missiles aimed at Crimea could well be a treat to Russia or smo but first Nato has to use them.
Actually is nothing but paper.

Posted by: Mario | Mar 3 2024 18:35 utc | 52

“according to telegram channel, https://t.me/s/ZandVchannel Canada is now willing to send “non combat troops” to Ukraine for training purposes.. Seems like more and more “trial balloons” are being sent up. IMHO, it’s because of the dire straits the AFU finds itself in. I believe, sadly, that NATo forces will be sent into Ukraine as “peace keepers”, non combat role. Possibly some of the NATO troops involved in those exercises will sent in. There was speculation that they would guard the border of Ukraine and Belarus, freeing up 100,00 + Ukies to be sent to the front lines. I really hope this doesn’t happen, but if it does, Russia needs to hammer any foreign troops hard no matter where they are or what they are doing..”
Posted by: ctiger | Mar 3 2024 17:39 utc | 36
I can only surmise that this sending ‘non combat troops’ to Ukraine from the Empires satellite- my sad Sovereign – is but a negotiating ploy to reach a better settlement.
Otherwise it makes no sense-if they were going to seriously mobilize they are about 26 months too late.

Posted by: canuck | Mar 3 2024 18:38 utc | 54

Also the Houthis have sent that Uk destroyer running back to Europe after hitting it with drones.
Posted by: go;ddigger | Mar 3 2024 16:21 utc | 19
Was there ever actually proof of this?

Posted by: BT | Mar 3 2024 18:52 utc | 56

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Mar 3 2024 18:55 utc | 57
judging by all those dead “mercenaries” so far, he used a chisel to write it on a stoneslate.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Mar 3 2024 19:01 utc | 58

” Moonie, you are sloppy- try harder to get your post right.
Thanks.
Posted by: canuck | Mar 3 2024 18:29 utc | 49 ”
Addressing my point would be more constructive to the conversation then poor attempts at comedy. You’re welcome.

Posted by: Moonie | Mar 3 2024 19:08 utc | 60

” kaliningrad – northsea – germany. easy.
article 5 is not a “all must now go to war” guarantee. read it first.
Posted by: Justpassinby | Mar 3 2024 18:23 utc | 47 ”
Look at the location of kaliningrad on the map and then re-read my point. Additionally, I see people like to talk in circles here. For instance.
” article 5 is not a “all must now go to war” guarantee. ”
and then in the same breath they state
” Russia must not do anything to give the US the excuse to go to war as thats what the US wants ”
So which one is it Justpassinby ?

Posted by: Moonie | Mar 3 2024 19:14 utc | 62

Like I’ve said before these clowns in government are intent on making their citizens lives harder, poorer and poverty will become far more widespread, with Biden, the EU 27 and the UK announcing more sanctions against Russia, this time the excuse is the death of the CIA/Mi6 puppet Navalny, Russia is now retaliating in kind, and it we (The public across Europe that will suffer because of these sanctions)
Our Western governments don’t give a toss about our welfare, and that is becoming clearer by the day.
“Russia has withdrawn from a decades-old fishing deal with the UK, following an announcement by Britain of new sanctions against Moscow.
Russia banned British fisherman from fishing in the Barents Sea. It was after the lower house of Russia’s parliament passed the relevant legislation on Wednesday.
Russia’s parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said, “He [President Vladimir Putin] returned our fish to us, because the English, shameless, had been eating it for 68 years. They have imposed sanctions on us, while they themselves make up 40% of their diet, their fish menu, from our cod. Let them now lose some weight.”
On the same day, the UK imposed sanctions on six officials at the head of the Siberian penal colony where Alexei Navalny, Russia’s opposition leader died last week.
“The agreement was unfortunately one-sided giving the authority and right to fish only to our partners at the time,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Maksim Uvaidov said. He added that the agreement didn’t provide Soviet fishermen with similar rights.
British vessels caught 556,000 tonnes of cod and haddock in Russian waters in 2023 alone.
Last year, Sky News reported that up to 40% of cod and haddock consumed in the UK comes from Russia and the Russian territory. ”
_____________________________________________
Oh and this from the Zionist genocide loving English PM, who’s determined to cause us more pain and suffering in an economic sense and possibly in a physical sense if the keeps poking the Russian Bear.
“UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that allied Western countries supporting Ukraine “must be bolder” in seizing frozen Russian assets.
In an op-ed run by The Sunday Times, Sunak called on the Group of Seven (G7) nations to find a “lawful way” to seize more frozen Russian assets and pass the proceeds over to Ukraine’s government to aid its forces fighting against Russian troops.
“We must be bolder in hitting the Russian war economy … And we must be bolder in seizing the hundreds of billions of frozen Russian assets,” he insisted.
Allied Western countries began freezing Russian assets shortly after Russia began its special military operation in eastern Ukraine in 2022.
They have gathered about $600 billion in frozen Russian assets and funds; however, efforts to pass the money over to Ukraine have created legal issues, raising concerns over precedent, as well as the future of Ukraine’s economy.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 3 2024 19:14 utc | 64

” “The agreement was unfortunately one-sided giving the authority and right to fish only to our partners at the time,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Maksim Uvaidov said. He added that the agreement didn’t provide Soviet fishermen with similar rights.
Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 3 2024 19:14 utc | 64 ”
Which begs the question, why would the Soviets agree to such an insult ?

Posted by: Moonie | Mar 3 2024 19:17 utc | 66

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2024 18:35 utc | 53
The German Air Force is the Luftwaffe. They simply admit that they are outmatched technologically.

Posted by: kspr | Mar 3 2024 19:26 utc | 68

by anon2020 | Mar 3 2024 18:12 utc | 43
Rafale is a now a native platform for French SCALP as it has a “bridge” that enables live data and programming. Mirage except few BLOCK 5 examples is mainly outdated for it. SU-24 is just improvised launch platform that can launch pre-programmed missiles, although Storm Shadow is in testing to be somehow ground launched. Typhoon is TAURUS ready, but also can do SS and SCALP. CAPTOR radar on all those frames is glowing for hundreds of miles, also the heat signature is pretty big.
I do not see those encroaching on Russia better than any other air-frame.
No USAF plane can launch any of those missiles.
Also the maximum range of both F/GB systems is 550 km, trimmed export version apparently down to 280 km.
TAURUS is capable of hitting the targets at around 520 km.
Apart from better RADALT (radar keeping the altitude steady) and TERCOM (terrain contour matching) it is not some ‘never seen killer machine’, or a ‘wunderwaffe’ destroying the Moscow, Kazan and Tula factories.
It is all BS, as nothing in NATO’s inventory will help Ukraine. It’ll just make RF more agile and prone to neutering anything NATO throws at them. Probably planes are next to figure out, thus letting them fly near and about is just a data collecting session.
On this field, I am not concerned at all, that RF will outshine NATO.
Ground-ops are different thing, where despite grinding and progressing, RF is not as fast as, I think, they intended to be at this stage.
In the WWII, at the peak of the speed of liberating Ukraine and Belorus, Red Army made 100 km in a 12 days somewhere and somewhere the double of that in 3-5 weeks. Such fast progress is possible today, as logistics should be capable of handling it. There were no transport helicopters and air-drops 80 years ago, still Red Army crossed Dnieper river at the width of 2 km with wooden pontoon bridges and barges.

Posted by: whirlX | Mar 3 2024 19:41 utc | 70

RF is not as fast as, I think, they intended to be at this stage.
Posted by: whirlX | Mar 3 2024 19:41 utc | 70
—
I have the feeling that pace is slowed by synchronizing a broad movement. Waiting on a crescendo where the entire frontline peaks at once.

Posted by: too scents | Mar 3 2024 19:48 utc | 72

Adding: too scents | Mar 3 2024 19:48 utc | 72
How many uncommitted forces does the RF have? Somewhere between 200’000 and 400’000 troops? More?

Posted by: too scents | Mar 3 2024 19:53 utc | 74

Anonymous | Mar 3 2024 19:43 utc | 71
Nato aircraft launching from Nato airfields to attack Russian targets, I think will be taken by Russia as direct Nato participation. Currently Nato uses the fig leaf of launching attacks from Ukraine territory and Ukraine uniforms to keep it a proxy war.
Western military aircraft undercarriages and engine air intake are precious petals that are not designed for battlefield runways.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 3 2024 20:06 utc | 76

Posted by: LightYearsFromHome | Mar 3 2024 18:32 utc | 51
Unless I’m mistaken, the long running Masno channel was recently shut down, in a way that suggested he’d been busted. The original Masno TG “NovichokRossiya” was reset and started anew by someone who claimed to not be the original author, it now has hardly any content or subscribers. The one you link is TG “ Novichok_Rossiya_2” which actually does look like the original author starting from scratch on the same lines as before.
It was a place to find things that were only hinted at or not covered at all in the overtly pro Russian channels but which subsequently turned out to be true. There’s bound to be some plausible rubbish slip through when attempting to tread that line.

Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 3 2024 20:10 utc | 78

Also the Houthis have sent that Uk destroyer running back to Europe after hitting it with drones.
Posted by: go;ddigger | Mar 3 2024 16:21 utc | 19
Posted by: BT | Mar 3 2024 18:52 utc | 56
No, that didn’t happen, but they do appear to have drained that destroyer’s missile magazines. Almost as good.

Posted by: Ed4 | Mar 3 2024 20:16 utc | 80

Posted by: anon2020 | Mar 3 2024 20:10 utc | 78
The Masno channel owner at some point told (or implied) living in Ukraine and in a location where he could ‘hear/see’ relative close events on the front.
As far as the Rezident/Legitimny channels go, someone said they might be channels of the banned opposition in Ukraine.

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2024 20:27 utc | 82

The Taurus conversation leak is amazing if you look at it.
Either two fairly senior army officers are discussing some serious operational matters , in the clear on a public network ( this seems unlikely unless they have completely lost the plot)
Or, they they thought they were on a secure system that isnt.

Posted by: Yarpos | Mar 3 2024 20:38 utc | 84

What possible reason would there be to invade further?
The Red Army suffered millions of casualties in pushing the Nazis all the way back to where they started from.
It lead to occupation of Eastern European peoples who were not exactly enamoured by decades of occupation.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 3 2024 20:20 utc | 81

The Red Army’s mistake was that they only Kaliningradized Kaliningrad.
Should have done it in Finland and the whole of Germany they controlled, plus what is now northern Poland too.
But the US had the bomb, and they didn’t.
The result is:
https://t.me/blackcolonel2020/1245

Returning to the problem of a possible blockade of the Kaliningrad region, I would like to draw the attention of dear readers to the fact that our “sworn partners” are preparing for it in full swing. And not only preparation, but they have already begun to carry it out.
The Lithuanian authorities have once again reduced annual quotas for cargo transit to Kaliningrad, said the Governor of the Kaliningrad Region Anton Alikhanov. “This year, Lithuania again “cut” quotas for rail transit to and from the Kaliningrad region to the main territory of Russia (-20% approximately). At the same time, the Lithuanians raised tariffs for transportation within their territory by almost 60%,” he wrote in his telegram channel. As previously reported, on July 13, 2022, the European Commission approved the transportation by Russia of sanctioned cargo to Kaliningrad only for the needs of this exclave and only by rail, but the volume of cargo is quotas and must correspond to the average amount of goods transported by rail over the past three years. Lithuania reduces these quotas every year.
Estonia and Finland are preparing to deploy anti-ship missiles on both sides of the Gulf of Finland to prevent Russian ships, both military and cargo, from entering the Baltic Sea.
Estonia is preparing a legislative basis for the introduction of a “contiguous zone” regime in the Gulf of Finland. Within its framework, Estonian intelligence services and supervisory authorities will be able to inspect ships if they suspect that they violate the country’s laws or anti-Russian sanctions. The authorities will organize inspections of ships in the Gulf of Finland at a distance of up to 24 nautical miles (about 40 km) from the territorial waters.
Finland plans to introduce a similar “adjacent zone” regime. As a result, the Gulf of Finland will be completely under the control of Estonia and Finland, and the passage of ships through it to the Kaliningrad region will be extremely difficult, and if necessary, prohibited.
It is unclear how the inspection of warships of the Baltic Fleet sailing from Kronstadt to the Kaliningrad region and back will be carried out.
It seems that the Kremlin is at a loss and does not know what to do in this situation, since it does not have any levers of pressure on Estonia, Finland and Lithuania. For now, the decision has obviously been made to use the proven method “Maybe it will resolve on its own.”

And from Gurulev today:

My feeling is that the latest NATO exercises in Europe are directed more against our main ally, the Republic of Belarus. They are working on an attempt to enter the territory of the Republic. The goal is to knock out our main ally and secure access to the borders of the Smolensk region.
I have no doubt about the combat effectiveness of the armed forces of the fraternal state. NATO troops obviously do not conduct their exercises with the aim of protecting against us, this is nonsense.
Another point of tension is Kaliningrad. I see that many experts say that NATO today does not have the forces to seize this region. I am convinced that it is not a matter of the number of forces, we must in any case guarantee the highest level of protection. There is no need to be shy about saying that an attack on our territory will lead to an immediate nuclear strike on the territory from which NATO troops will depart. This is our doctrine.
I am not a supporter of nuclear war. But since Soviet times, in case of aggression against us, we have been practicing the offensive of troops after a series of successive nuclear strikes. If we have no options, then we will act this way.
A year ago we talked about the fact that the Poles are being trained for the second echelon for Ukraine. They will be forced, even if they resist with all their might. They will force the Romanians, Bulgarians, and Priblats. No one feels sorry for them; for the Anglo-Saxons they are consumables.

The way things are going, the Russian leader after Putin might realize that there will be no lasting peace not only unless Ukraine is de-Ukrainized, but also unless much of Europe is subjected to Kaliningradization…

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 3 2024 20:41 utc | 86

Posted by: shаdοwbanned | Mar 3 2024 20:41 utc | 86
About ships sailing the Baltic to and from Kaliningrad: military escort. If they want to board and inspect them then go ahead and find out.
Besides, boarding in international waters is akin to piracy.

Posted by: alek_a | Mar 3 2024 20:51 utc | 88

As far as the Rezident/Legitimny channels go, someone said they might be channels of the banned opposition in Ukraine.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2024 20:27 utc | 82
That has been my thought. From one of the neutral parties that pushed to go with the Minsk agreements. Those pro Ukraine political parties that were pushing for the Minsk agreement to be followed have all been barred by the Zelensky crew or at least since Zelensky came to puppet power status.

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Mar 3 2024 20:53 utc | 90

Shadowbanned, cease the concern trolling. Any attempt at interdiction of Russian shipping between St Petersburg and Kaliningrad, or even more outrageously, attacking Belarussian territory will be met sternly by Russia. Quite possibly with nuclear weapons. NATO would not dare risking this. And the Baltic chihuahuas? If an escalation such as this occurs, their sovereign statehood will be a thing of the past, and outside of descending into the abyss of mutually assured destruction (mainland USA will not be spared) NATO will be utterly incapable of doing anything about it, having overcommitted itself already in the failed Ukraine adventure.

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 3 2024 20:55 utc | 92

In a recent speech, Putin mentioned the fate of historical invaders of Russia and promised a similar or worse fate for contemporary contenders.
Russian troops marched through Paris.
Russian troops marched through Berlin.
Soon, will Russian troops march through Brussels? London?
If the conflict festers long enough, the USA may in due time have undermined and hollowed out itself to such an extent that, while yet seemingly unthinkable, Russian troops eventually shall march through Washington.

Posted by: Lurk | Mar 3 2024 21:09 utc | 94

@ Lurk (4)
Regarding the leak of sensitive German info, the fact is that German High Command would be negligent in their duties if they did not plan for *any* eventuality. Militaries plan for all sorts of things. There seems to be a genuine belief that Russia will not stop until it reaches the English Channel. This is utter nonsense. Europe’s population dwarfs Russia’s, likewise, the combined military budgets of the EU, again, dwarf what Russia is spending. Why would Russia even want to conquer these places? The Baltics pretty much hate Russia from the moment of birth, do you really think Russia would want to govern such a hate-filled place for … what? Resources? Russia has all she needs. Do you think that Russia wants to start a nuclear show-down? HOWEVER … all that said, one cannot discard the possibility of a miscalculation, or a simple stupid mistake – the EU and the USUK have committed dump trucks full of stupid mistakes – could indeed set the ball rolling. Germany may not want a war with Russia, but that decision is not in Germany’s hands. Therefor, they do indeed need to plan for more US stupidity.
They’re just pissed because this became public.

Posted by: rgl | Mar 3 2024 21:15 utc | 96

NATO has put them in a lock.What will they do?
Posted by: Comandante | Mar 3 2024 17:24 utc | 28
Youve got it the wrong way around, pal, like so much of western crap these days, like up is down and white is black. Its NATO that is in the lock. They have had to respond to the successes of Russia on the battlefield. Russia itself has not budged ONE INCH in its original goals of the SMO. Its the west that is reacting, and, I might say, making grave mistakes in its panic reactions.

Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 3 2024 21:26 utc | 98

One thing to notice with the drone attack to St. Petersburg was some drones were shot down nearly immediately west of St. Petersburg, between the mainland and Kronstadt as they were flying east over the sea.
While it’s not impossible they were launched from Estonia, it’s still more probable AFU has some long range drone they set to fly along the border, and come in from the west to increase the likelihood someone thinks it comes from Nato.
If one has been following, every single thing AFU has done pretty much since the beginning is try to create media events, claims or optical illusions that either ‘Russia attacked Nato’ (S-300 fell in Poland), Nato attacked Russia (drone coming over gulf of Finland), Russia attack Nato (drone debris fell into Romania), and now these drone events in Pskov and St. Petersburg.
They are also doing it out of desperation. Zelensky was supposed to initiate war between Russia and Nato back in mid-2022 already.

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 3 2024 21:35 utc | 100